The 24-Hour Countdown

24 HOURS REMAINING - 10:43 AM

Standing in perfect formation, the Buenavista men anxiously await for Ryan's orders. What has once been a cheerful and lively house for the past week has now instantly turned into a world of coldness. As Ryan makes his way onto the stage, the men witness a once normally joyful man become the biggest dictator that could rival Lucario.

"Lock the doors!" Ryan suddenly orders as he stares down at the men below him. Confused, the men glance around at the many doors that line the annex building. One by one, Billy and a few other veteran members begin locking the doors outside with chains.

"For the next 24 hours, no one is allowed to leave the building. No food will be provided to anyone, myself included. You will not be allowed to sleep while you are in this building. We all had a shared responsibility to watch over and protect Lily but failed, so this will be our retribution. We must search for anything that will give us a clue as to who took Lily and where she might be. Our first target is the new guy that was recruited a couple of days ago since he was the last one with her. Our 24 hours start now, men!"

As soon as the men are given their orders, they waste no time in grouping themselves and dividing the tasks. Supplied with all of the technology and software they need, they dive headfirst into their search. Meanwhile, an impatient boss paces back and forth in his office.

"Luca, I've never seen you this worked up before," Billy comments as he pours a cup of coffee for Lucario. "You should relax a bit so that you have a clear mind."

Glaring behind him, Lucario holds back every fiber in his body to keep him from destroying his office. "How can I relax when Lily is in danger?!"

"You won't be able to find her if your mind is clouded with anger," Billy responds. He pats on Lucario's chair to beckon him to come over and sit. Frustrated, Lucario stomps over to the chair and sits down before Billy pushes the rolling chair closer to the desk. "I know you want to find her, so I had Ryan send me the files that they will be using as their reference point for the search. I have already uploaded them to your computer so that you can do your own search."

Clicking through the files, Lucario finds himself starting to become immersed in his search. One by one, over and over again, Lucario meticulously reads each and every file.

20 HOURS 47 MINUTES REMAINING - 2:56 PM

"Luca, you've been looking at the computer nonstop since you started," Billy points out as he sets down a tray of food. "You skipped lunch. Searching for something on an empty stomach will lead you nowhere. Come on."

Lucario glances down at the tray for only a split second before sticking his eyes back onto the computer. "The men in the annex building are not eating, so I won't either. It is part of my responsibility to thoroughly check every newcomer's background, but I seem to have failed to look deep enough. If I had done my job correctly, Lily wouldn't have disappeared."

"It's my responsibility, however, as your right hand man to ensure that you are taking care of yourself. If you aren't going to eat, then I'll just have to hand feed you." Billy rolls a chair over from the coffee table and sits on the other side of the desk. "Come here," Billy says as he holds a spoonful of the lunch over the tray. "At least small bites."

Stubbornly, Lucario doesn't listen and continues his search, which slightly angers Billy. Seeing that his friend is refusing to eat, Billy grabs Lucario's chin and pulls it towards him. "Open your mouth, Lucario," Billy commands as he glares into his boss's eyes.

Lucario obediently opens his mouth, a bit frightened by his friend's quick change in demeanor that he hasn't seen in a long time. "You've changed since we were younger," Lucario comments between each chew. "You have calmed down significantly, but I see you still have it in you."

Billy scoops up another spoonful of the meal and laughs to himself. "Mad black sheep. I can't believe you came up with that nickname for me. That's so embarrassing now when I hear the guys say it sometimes while we reminisce on old times."

"We ain't that old, now," Lucario scoffs as he continues to read through every document. "Still in our prime. 32 and going strong, the both of us."

10 HOURS 42 MINUTES REMAINING - 9:25PM

Hitting a deadend, Lucario begins to search outside of the resource material that Billy gathered for him. Lucario begins to search for any social media accounts bearing the guy's name or a similar face using the facial recognition software.

A knock on the door echoes against the tapping of Lucario's keyboard. Billy walks in with a tray of food. "Am I going to have to hand feed you your dinner that you skipped?" Billy questions as he slams down the tray on Lucario's desk.

Waving his hands, Lucario finally turns away from the computer and stretches, letting out a loud groan. "I'm moving on from the resource materials and now searching for any social media with the new guy's face or name. It'll take a few minutes, so I can eat without your help. How are the guys holding up?"

Billy drops down onto the chair and starts to pour himself a cup of coffee. "A handful of men have passed out from the lack of food, so they are being treated at the manor clinic. If Ryan doesn't plan on disciplining those who had to be dismissed, I will do so on your command."

"If Ryan doesn't discipline them, then leave them alone," Lucario answers before taking a sip of his water. "I left Ryan in charge of the investigation, so I won't interfere or have any input on how he plans on dealing with those who disobey or cannot fulfill their orders."

Observing his boss, Billy sighs to himself before standing back up. "You have an idea, don't you?"

"What do you mean?"

Billy walks over to the desk then leans over it to pinch Lucario's ear. "You pull on your ears when you start making conclusions that you don't have answers to. Seeing how red your ear is past your light tan skin, you have an idea on who's behind Lily's kidnapping."

Lucario swipes his friend's hand away from his ear. "I feel like the Kangs are the ones behind Lily's kidnapping, but I haven't seen any sort of connection with the Kangs and the new guy yet."

Sitting on the edge of the desk, Billy crosses his arms as he stares at the computer screen. "So you're hoping that, by finding social medias with this man's picture on it, you might be able to find a connection?"

"That's the plan. If the Kangs are Lily's kidnappers, I plan on blowing up their entire family so that no one would have another thought of taking Lily from me again."

7 HOURS 25 MINUTES REMAINING - 3:18 AM

"Boss, you should really get some sleep," Billy advises as he enters the office with a blanket in hand. "You can leave the investigation to Ryan and the men."

Shaking his head, Lucario continues to read the information on his computer. Ticked, Billy stomps over and throws the blanket over Lucario's large back. "You. Need. To. Sleep. Now! You wouldn't want Lily to see your tired face when you go to save her, do you?"

Lucario glances behind him to find Billy's annoyed smile on his face. "5 o'clock. If I don't find anything by 5 o'clock, I'll leave the rest to Ryan and the men."

Billy glares down at Lucario and clicks his tongue. "5 o'clock. If you aren't asleep by then, I will put you to sleep. You got me?"

"Yeah, yeah, I got you," Lucario responds, turning his attention back to the computer.

4 HOURS 43 MINUTES REMAINING - 6:00 AM

"I swear. If that man is not asleep when I get in there." Billy swings open the door to Lucario's office, full-on ready to scold him, when he suddenly freezes in the doorway. He witnesses Lucario standing and staring so hard into the computer that he could have melted the whole monitor with how blood shot red his eyes were. "Did you find something?"

Lucario doesn't respond. He only furiously storms out of the office, nearly knocking Billy back with how hard his shoulder collided with Billy's. Curious, Billy darts over to the computer which displays a zoomed in picture of a bracelet on someone's wrist. A plain silver chain bracelet with a clearly fake red gem on one of the links. Recognizing where the bracelet is from, Billy bee-lines it to the annex building where Lucario is already front and center.

"Gather any and every available hand to the garage immediately!" Lucario roars. "We leave in ten minutes for the Kang Estate. We are going to get Lily back and make those snakes pay for kidnapping my little girl."

"Yes, Father Lucario!"